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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟐
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

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Charlie stood in her place between the trees as she watched the girl run faster than humanly possible around the track a few more times. Despite her thoughts continuing to tell her to turn around and go home, her feet moved towards the redhead as if her life depended on it. As soon as she reached the track, the teen came to a tumbling stop in front of the archer, showing Charlie that she had difficulty controlling her abilities.

The two girls just stared at each other for a long moment, the younger with no emotion in her eyes. That alone made Charlie believe she was about to sprint far away from the school. However, her thoughts were soon proved wrong when the ginger girl looked the Barton girl up and down, now with a curious yet irritated look on her face. Once she finished studying the older girl, the teen looked back up to meet the Barton girl's eyes.

"Can I help you?" she asked in a tone that made it seem like what she just did was completely normal.

"How did you do that?" Charlie questioned, only to receive a quirked eyebrow from the girl in response.

"I don't know why running is so interesting to you."

"Running normally? I couldn't care less," the Barton girl told her before gesturing towards the track they were standing next to, "but running faster than the eye can see? Yes, that does interest me. So, I'm gonna ask again, how did you do that?"

Her mouth stayed sealed shut as she stared at the Barton girl for another long moment without even attempting to hide the hatred in her eyes. After standing there in silence for what felt like an eternity, Charlie found herself copying the girl's previous actions and studying the teen. It wasn't long before her eyes stopped on a familiar object hanging from her neck. The archer's attention stayed on the dog tags for a second longer before she finally saw the small symbol engraved on the back of it.

It was an exact copy of Wanda and Pietro's.

"HYDRA?" Charlie whispered just loud enough for the redheaded teen to hear as she looked back up to meet her hazel eyes.

As soon as the disbanded organization's name cut through the silence that began to surround them, all the emotion and color faded from the young girl's face. It wasn't long after that when she began to study Charlie once again. After she finished taking in every aspect of the blonde girl in front of her, a long sigh escaped her lips as she unconsciously crossed her arms over her chest.

"HYDRA needed test subjects so my parents forced me to be one. They worked for HYDRA before they...disappeared when I was twelve. At least, that's what Strucker told me. I was forced to stay with them and follow orders until the Avengers took them down a year ago. I'm just glad it ended before anything really started."

"Wait, you were at the HYDRA base in Sokovia?" Charlie questioned, only to be greeted by a confused look from the teenager. The two of them just stared at each other for another long moment as the Barton girl's thoughts bounced around the walls in her head. Once she finally concluded that this had to be the girl that Pietro talked about, she continued speaking. "My name is Charlie Barton. And I was with the Avengers when they took out that base."

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A few hours passed of the two girls just talking before Charlie finally managed to convince Alex that she was her best chance at learning to control her abilities. After she grabbed the few things she brought with her to the track, the Barton girl took the redhead back to the apartment where Peter greeted her with a confused look on his face. The Parker boy just stared at the newcomer for a long silent moment then his eyes flashed to Charlie. Before he had a chance to ask any questions, the blonde girl grabbed his wrist and dragged him into his makeshift lab.

Once she managed to get the boy into the next room, Charlie closed the door behind her then placed herself between the boy and his only exit. The two of them stared at each other for a long moment before the blonde girl told him everything that happened within the last few hours. This included almost everything she knew about Alex and what she can do after getting the girl's consent on their walk back to the apartment. Peter just stared at the older girl with wide eyes before he pushed past Charlie and rushed into the living room.

A sigh passed over the Barton girl's lips as she followed after the teenage boy and stopped next to him behind the couch. The two of them stood there as they watched Alex look around the apartment in awe then her eyes caught a few of Peter's new gadgets he left laying around. A small smile unconsciously formed on Charlie's face at the sight of the curiosity in the young girl's eyes before the Parker boy grabbed his mentor's wrist and pulled her back into the other room.

"I think you should call someone," he told Charlie after closing the door behind him to make sure Alex couldn't hear them.

"Are you serious?" the Barton girl laughed as the smile on her face slightly grew, only for it to fade when she saw the look on his face transform into irritation, "she's just a kid with an ability she can't fully control. Kinda like someone else I know."

"Okay, but unlike me, she was part of HYDRA! The same group who almost had Helicarriers that could take out a million people at a time and turned Captain America's best friend into a living weapon," Peter ranted then paused to take a breath while Charlie continued to stare at him with an unamused look on her face. Silence surrounded them for another moment before the boy asked the question the blonde had been dreading. "Don't you think the Avengers should know?"

The Barton girl kept her mouth sealed shut as she studied the Parker boy, who was now looking anywhere but her eyes. While she looked him over, she thought about telling him who this girl actually was. The same girl that Wanda and Pietro treated like a younger sister and tried to protect with their lives. But something inside her kept telling her to keep that information to herself. At least for the time being. So, instead of telling him the whole truth, Charlie simply let out another long sigh before opening her mouth to continue to try to convince the boy that Alex meant no harm. She just wanted a second chance at life.

"I'm not gonna turn her in for something she didn't do, Pete."

"For all you know she's a criminal sent to spy on us," Peter retaliated, causing the Barton girl to rub her hands down the side of her face before the Parker boy decided it was time to go to his last resort, "can you at least call your dad?"

"No. He's finally getting time to be with Laura, Cooper, Lila, and Nate. I'm not gonna be the one to get in the middle of that."

"Please, Charlie. At least tell him what's going on."

The two of them went back to having a staring contest as the archer's thoughts bounced around her head as if they just had ten cups of coffee. Neither of them wanted to be the one to give in to the other's wishes. But Charlie also knew that keeping the girl a complete secret wasn't the smartest idea. After letting out a sigh, the Barton girl agreed to call Clint and let him know what was going on.

While the blonde girl stayed in Peter's makeshift lab to talk to her father in peace, Peter went back into the living room to make sure Alex wasn't "stealing anything." Charlie rolled her eyes while she closed the door behind him then she pulled her phone out of her back pocket. Her finger scrolled over the screen as she went through her contact before stopping at the Barton man's number. She just stared at it for a long moment then let out another sigh and hit the call button. Charlie listened to it ring only once before she was greeted by Clint's voice.

"Hey, Char. Is everything okay? I mean, not that I'm upset that you called early, but I thought we were gonna talk at seven."

"Uh, yeah. Everything's fine...I think...actually, I don't know," the Barton girl rambled as she ran her hand through her hair in an attempt to calm her nerves, "are you alone by any chance?"

The initial response she received was silence before her ears picked up on a quiet shuffling as he walked through the farmhouse. Charlie stared out the window at the city while she listened to her father try to find a place to continue their private conversation. She was caught off-guard by the sound of Cooper's voice barely audible through the phone. Just hearing her brother made her start to regret not calling another one of the Avengers instead of the man who just wanted to spend time with his kids.

When the faint footsteps came to an end, the Barton girl barely picked up on the sound of a door closing before Clint spoke once again. "Now I am. What's going on, Charlie?"

Charlie found herself hesitating for a moment, which only added to her conflicted feelings since she never kept anything from her father. It took a lot more courage than she expected when she told him exactly what happened earlier that day. She started her explanation from the very beginning until she gave him all the information she found out just a few minutes ago. The only detail she left out was her almost panic attack, knowing that he'd either come to New York himself or send one of the Avengers to check up on her. She definitely wasn't in the mood for that.

"Okay, let me get this straight," her father said after taking in every detail of the story she just told him, "you went on a walk where you saw Pietro's ghost and he led you to a school where you met another speedster who was a test subject for HYDRA?"

"It wasn't his ghost," Charlie answered before mentally cursing herself for responding with that instead of the important matter at hand.

"We've been over this, Char," Clint responded before hearing him let out a long sigh, "did you call Tony?"

"I haven't talked to him since Sokovia."

"It wasn't his fault," the Barton man told her for the millionth time, only for more anger to fill her at the thought of the scientific geniuses that built Ultron. As if sensing the negative emotions within his daughter, Clint was quick to change the conversation in an attempt to stop another one of their arguments before it started. "Let's just get back to the girl. Do you think she still has ties to former HYDRA agents?"

"Honestly, I don't think she does or ever will again," Charlie told him after thinking back to Alex's past, "when she told me her story, it didn't seem like she volunteered to be a guinea pig. I also had two amazing agents train me to tell when someone's lying."

"Nat and I are pretty great," Clint laughed while his daughter let out a playful scoff before the man continued speaking, "and I also know that I'm not gonna be able to talk you out of helping a lost puppy."

"I learned that from you after watching you do a 180 with Wanda back in Sokovia."

"Very funny, Char. But seriously, just watch your back, alright? I don't wanna have to come over there to save your *ss."

"I promise I'll be careful. And if something does happen, you'll be the first person I call."

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